Reefer Madness
by I'maMePanda
Summary: When Kitty puts her foot down on Red kicking Hyde out of the house over the possession charge, he finds a different way to deal with the situation. Warning:spanking, don't like don't read


Hi! Something from me that's not a Magnificent Seven story, shocker, I know. I've had this on my hard drive in various stages of completeness for years, and thought you guys might enjoy it :)

Like it says in the summary, contains spanking.

*.*.*.*.*

"Red Forman, how could you?!" Kitty had her hands on her hips, glaring at where her husband sat at his work bench, hiding in the garage among the debris of some new automotive project rather than dealing with the mess that was developing in their home. Red glared down at his hands as he fiddled with tuning up a part that didn't need to be tuned, not turning to acknowledge his wife. He knew exactly what his wife was upset about-he wasn't exactly happy with his decision either. Still, what did she expect, that he would just allow dope smoking to run rampant down in that damned basement? "Red?!"

"Oh, dammit Kitty, don't start." Red dropped what he was holding in disgust, turning towards his wife almost plaintively, "What did you want me to do? Steven's a damned dopehead. Am I not supposed to be angry?"

"Of course you should be angry. You should also deal with this rationally, like a parent-that's what I wanted you to do. Obviously we have to punish him, but to kick him out of our home?" Kitty was so upset you could hear the tears in her voice and Red winced, hating that he'd caused that and wanting to hold her as he always did when she was upset. He wasn't stupid though, and knew right now she was mad as hell at him and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Kitty, I did act like a parent-I meant what I said-I don't want dope in our house, and I certainly don't want it around Laurie and Eric."

"Steven's parent, Red. I meant, Steven's parent." Kitty saw that her husband was about to get defensive and plunged ahead before he could start, "What would you do if it was Eric? What, would you kick him out too?"

Red glared just a little then, annoyed that she was being so ridiculous, "Of course not!", then shook his head, gathering himself, "Kitty, you _know_ what I would do if it were Eric." The dumbass might have mostly managed to avoid it over the years, but spanking wasn't an unheard of thing in the Forman household, and for something like this that's exactly what he would do.

"Exactly. What makes Steven different?" Kitty stared at him seriously as Red gaped, not sure what to say.

"Kitty..."

"I'm serious, Red. When we took that boy in we became, at the least, the closest things he has to parents. As far as I'm concerned he is my son-and he was as good as since long before he moved into the basement. Are you really going to tell me you feel any different?"

If it were anyone else he never would have admitted it. But Kitty already knew, always knew what he felt, sometimes before he did himself. "Kitty...you know I care for the boy. But, just because I feel that way doesn't make it true. If I were to try and punish him like I would Eric I doubt he would accept it."

Kitty raised an eyebrow at that-since when did Red care whether one of the kids agreed to a punishment?-and said just that, "Why in the world does he have to accept it? It's a punishment. Besides, Red, you spanked him when he was twelve and stole those baseball cards, and he didn't even live with us then."

"That was different, he was a kid."

"And he's not now? Seventeen still seems very much a child to me. The simple fact of the matter, Red, is we are not kicking Steven out. I won't allow it. I think you should punish him, but if you don't, I'll take care of grounding him. But he's not going anywhere, Red Forman, and that is final." Kitty had her arms crossed across her chest in a way that Red had learned long ago couldn't be argued with. If he tried to go against her, not only would he lose, but his life would be hell in the meantime. Really, he didn't want to anyway.

"Fine." He snapped grumpily, standing up, "When you're right, you're right. I'll go talk to Steven, tell him he's not kicked out, and..." Red sighed, "Deal with it."

"Thank you, Red." Kitty darted forward suddenly, and pecked him on the cheek, "You really are just the sweetest man alive." Red smiled at her, relaxing a bit and tugging her close to him in order to return her kiss properly.

*.*.*.*.*.*

Steven Hyde sat on the cot in what had been his bedroom, looking around in a sort of idle shock. Mrs. Forman had already told him he didn't have to go anywhere tonight. He'd tried to pack but couldn't seem to concentrate, so he'd changed into his pajamas, only then he couldn't sleep either. So now he was just sitting here on his cot, looking around at his room- _it's not yours anymore_ -, remembering. It wasn't that late, he could still hear the rest of the gang bumping around in the main part of the basement. They'd tried to get him to come and hang out but he just wasn't interested.

Hyde just hoped they weren't stupid enough to have a circle with Red on the warpath. He'd probably take the heat for that too if they got caught.

After all, he was a bad influence Red didn't want around his children. Hyde wasn't good enough to live in his house. It wasn't like the man was wrong either, Steven was smart enough to know that. He'd been the one to raid his Mom's stash way back in 8th grade and bring it to the basement in the first place...sure Kelso and Forman hadn't needed any convincing, had even asked him to do it, but it had still been him that followed through.

God, he'd been so stupid. So stupid. Hyde had actually thought, had let himself think...he should have known better. The Formans had been the closest thing he'd ever had to a real family, not just after they'd taken him in, but his whole life. They'd just, they'd always been there, _forever._ Still though, part of Hyde felt like he should have known this would happen. That he'd screw it up enough to lose it, just when it was finally real. When they were finally, really, _his_. His own parents hadn't wanted him, had _never_ wanted him. His Ma had tried sometimes, but in the end Steven was always in the way. It figured that once he lived with the Formans they'd change their minds too. His throat and jaw convulsed with the beginning of a sob, Hyde instantly swallowing it down and trying to keep himself calm. Red wouldn't cry. Hyde rarely did either, and he knew it made the man proud, that keeping their feelings close was something they had in common, so he wouldn't now. He _wouldn't._ He _couldn't._

But it was just too much. He lowered his head into his hands, not exactly crying, but not dry eyed either. He wasn't crying, not really...just all the dusty boxes...

It was no wonder he didn't hear Red coming down the stairs, didn't hear him gruffly ordering the others to clear out, didn't hear anything but his own strained breaths, until there was a sharp rapping at his door and his head came up, surprised. Hyde hurriedly wiped his eyes, but didn't have time to call out 'Come in' before the door popped open and Red stepped in. "Steven, we need to talk."

Red kept his face stern and even as he walked into Steven's room, glare fixed firmly on the guilty face in front of him. It was harder than he'd expected it to be. Steven's eyes were red and watery for all he was doing his best to look composed, and when the boy forced himself to swallow around the lump in his throat and answer him it looked painful. "Okay, Red. Did-did you want me to leave tonight?"

Hell, if that didn't feel like a kick to the chest. Kitty was right, he was a damned dumbass himself. "You don't have to go anywhere. Steven, we're not kicking you out." Steven gaped at him, swallowing a few times and straightening up a bit where he sat.

"You're not?"

"No. We're not." He knew Kitty would want him to say more, to explain, or even apologize (hah), but that wasn't how Red was with his boys, never had been. "That doesn't change the fact that what you did was plain unacceptable and damned stupid." Red let his glare kick up a few notches, volume rising to match. "What the hell were you thinking? Dope? Drugs, Steven? On what planet has that ever been alright? Planet dumbass? You know the kinds of things that can do to your body, Kitty must have given you boys about a million talks on that! People jump off buildings, they move on to worse drugs! And then you get arrested for possession? Do you have any idea what something like that could do to your future?! Did you even think about that? Or do you just not care?" Red held Steven's eyes with his, doing his best to impress the seriousness of the situation on him, "No decent employer is going to hire a dopehead, Steven. Are you trying to ruin your damn life? Do you want to wind up working at a gas station or the bowling alley? Because that is the _best_ thing that happens to dopeheads! Not to mention how badly you upset Kitty, she must have spent half the day crying after we got that phone call! I'm not going to have my wife that upset, not because my kid is doing something that he should damn well know not to do, I just won't have it! I'll tell you one thing for sure, you sure as hell aren't going to be this big of a dumbass again-you know why?"

Steven waited a second to be sure Red actually wanted an answer, then shook his head, too cowed to do more than that. "I'm going to spank you. You're grounded too, two weeks. Stand up." He just stared at Red for a long moment, shocked, feeling like he should be arguing with him, because he was seventeen and that was way too old, and Red wasn't really his dad anyway. Still, Hyde would be lying if he said part of him wasn't relieved, and he found himself standing up, looking at Red, who was unbuckling his belt. "Bend over the side of the bed. You can keep your pants up, but if anything like this happens again you'll be losing them."

Trying to act cool, like he wasn't bothered even though he was pretty freaked out, Hyde slowly lay over the narrow cot, snaking out an arm to grab his pillow from the head of the bed and pulling it over so he could tuck it in front of him. Something to squeeze. He had wondered if this was a possibility when he moved in, had known first hand it wasn't completely off the table, but so far he hadn't managed to screw up that bad. Considering Red had been mad enough to kick him out, this was going to hurt.

Dammit, of all the times he'd gotten away with smoking weed, it had to be the one time it wasn't his at all that he got caught and got his ass whipped! Why the hell had Jackie thought buying weed off her housekeeper would impress him? He bought weed off either Leo or the guy at the hub at least once a week, it wasn't new! Why had he been so unwilling to let Jackie get in trouble, why had he taken the fall for the annoying cheerleader who suddenly thought she was in love with him? Why was he letting Red do this, when he could have left and gone to sleep at the Photo-Hut?

Because for as annoying as Jackie was, she was still one of the gang and Hyde couldn't stand to see her cry. That's how she'd gotten him to go to that damn prom with her.

And because if anyone had the right to belt his ass, it was Red. Hyde didn't respect a lot of adults-knew most of them had no respect for him, so why should he return any?-but Red was different. Red and Mrs. Forman were the only adults he'd ever been able to rely on, and if this was what it took to keep things how they had been Hyde could take it. Hyde could hear the man taking a step forward, and then he felt his hand come to rest on his back as the cot shifted. Risking taking a look back, he saw that Red had placed one knee on the cot and that the hand that wasn't on his back was measuring his swing with the belt, seeming to be testing it out and the knot in his stomach tightened.

The last time, when Forman had tattled on him and Kelso, Hyde had looked in the mirror later, and his ass had been red as a cherry. Red hadn't hurt him, hadn't left bruises or anything, but it wasn't until the next night that he could sit down without feeling it.

He hadn't used his belt that time either, just his hand. Hyde wasn't sure how he felt about that. A trip over Red's knee at his age would be more than embarrassing, but he doubted it would have hurt near as bad as this whipping was going to.

He swallowed again. It would be worth it, if it meant he could still live here.

Red had never called him his kid before. "Ten, then we're though." Everything seemed to pause for an eternity then, though it wasn't more than a few seconds, nerves building in his stomach so he almost ripped himself away from Red, suddenly not so sure this was worth it-Leo was a cool guy, and sleeping in the back of the photo hut wouldn't be that bad. Definitely wouldn't be anybody caring about how much dope he smoked there.

Or anybody making him do his homework, or caring how much he ate, or whether he had clean clothes-the first hard _whap_ landed then, burning through his pajama pants at the top of his ass, and Steven focused on keeping in the yelp of surprise-not pain, of course, not yet, he'd just been taken off guard. He was going to take this like a man. The second stripe landed a few seconds later just as hard, right beneath the first one, and it stung like hell. They kept coming like that, Red waiting a good few seconds in between each lick, the burn settling into his skin before the next one fell, while he tried not to squirm or curse. He managed to keep silent until the fifth whack, the belt landing just below the middle of his butt with a loud snap, Hyde's legs kicking out as a loud grunt forced its way out of his mouth. His ass burned and stung, and to his horror when the sixth smack came down he could feel his eyes sting too, though he was able to keep his mouth shut against any noise that time.

Abandoning his previous pattern, Red laid down the last four fast as anything and all low, right where Steven knew he'd be trying to sit, and the surprise at the sudden volley had him bucking and crying out, not able to keep his lips clamped shut anymore. He buried his head in the pillow he'd been squeezing, willing it to erase any traces of tears from his face. That had been ten right? It was over? Gulping in a breath of air, Steven lay there, not about to say he wouldn't smoke pot again, but he was damn well going to avoid being arrested again.

To his surprise he felt Red's hand patting solidly at his back, waiting for him to calm down. Finally, when he felt less shaky, Red pulled his hand away and slowly Hyde pushed himself to his feet. He didn't know what to say or what to do next. "Steven, look at me." Red's tone was as commanding as always, and reluctantly, embarrassed, Hyde dragged his eyes up. Red looked as uncomfortable as Steven felt, but he held his eyes locked on Hyde's and spoke firmly. "You don't have to worry about being kicked out, not for this or anything else. You pull something like this again, I'll be right back in here, tanning your hide, but you aren't going to have to go anywhere. Understood?"

Hyde mumbled a subdued, "Yeah," trying not to blush, or get emotional over what Red had said. The surprise he felt earlier when Red had patted his back was blown out of the water as the older man pulled him in for a very brief, one-armed hug, releasing him almost immediately.

"Alright, get to bed. I'll get the light." Exhausted and mind still running over what had just happened, Hyde flopped down face first onto the cot, eyes sliding shut almost immediately.


End file.
